June 9 - 15

When Bennett woke up in the morning on Monday he felt a bit warm adn said his ear hurt.  He often complains about his ear so we didn't think too much of that.  We took his temperature and he was fine, so off to school he went.
When we picked him up he had a 101 fever, so that meant no school the next day.  When we got home he watched Monsters, Inc and didn't eat much in the way of dinner, even though I tried one of his favorite foods.

On Tuesday Bennett had to stay home from school, even though his fever was gone.  He started off the day with Daddy since I had a dentist appointment.  When I got home he played nicely in my craft room while I did some ironing and some cleaning.  (There's still a LOT more cleaning to do!)

After lunch it was nap time.  He did not want to take his nap.  After a few minutes he came out of his room saying, "I rested.  Now I'm all better."  He repeated this quite a few times before finally settling down and going to sleep. After nap we watched Peter Pan and then made a Father's Day card.

After dinner we walked to the post office to mail a birthday card to Aunt Rebecca.

On Wednesday Bennett had his last week of speech for the school year.  And surprisingly, even though it was Daddy's turn, Bennett didn't sleep late.

School pictures (taken in April) finally came in!  We liked both poses and couldn't decide which to get, so we just ordered both of them.

On Thursday Bennett got his report card.  Not a surprise, but he's doing great.  I had to sign it, and he couldn't understand why he couldn't write his name on it.  We also got his class picture (they hadn't come in the day before with the rest of the pictures.)  None of the class pictures turned out well- just another reason why this wasn't a good photographer.


On Friday  evening we had a Father's Day cookout at school.  It's a nice chance to socialize with the other parents, and definitely a different vibe from the past couple of years as enrollment increases.

We got home a bit late and then let Bennett play a little while longer, so it was pretty late when he finally went to bed.



Saturday was Bennett's last soccer class.  Being the last class the parents got to join the kids on the field, so Daddy went and played some soccer.  For now we're going to hold off on signing him up for any sports.  He just doesn't seem to be all that interested in participating.

After soccer we went strawberry picking.  It's still pretty early in the season so we'll see how much jam I make from these (I need to actually work on that) and then who knows, maybe we'll go again.  Bennett was much better this year about picking ripe berries, but he still needs to work a little harder to get the bright red ones.

After strawberry picking we went to visit Mimi and were surprised to run into Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry while we were there.  They had also brought their new dog along with them so we all sat outside for a while.

Next up was bike shopping.  Well, we tried.  Turns out they didn't have the one I'd seen online (even though they said it could be picked up in the store), but Bennett's behavior was also less than stellar so we ended up leaving.  I guess he may have just been tired, because he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

When he woke up I asked him if he wanted lunch and he told me that he couldn't have lunch after rest.  Luckily he agreed that it was ok to have a big snack, which shockingly consisted of foods very similar to what he would have had for lunch.

He also had fun playing in the basement with Daddy, checking out the vise on his new workbench.

We rounded out the day by trying bike shopping again at a different store, this time ordering it online before we left and arranging for in store pickup.


Sunday was Father's Day. 

As I mentioned earlier, Bennett and I made a card for Daddy and it included a quiz.  I asked Bennett a few questions and wrote down his answers.

My Daddy's name is Daddy Breecher.
His is 10 years old.
He has grey hair and blue eyes.
At his job, my Daddy does work.
Daddy's favorite food is hot dogs.
Daddy always tells me to cut this paper.
I love to play and make cards for Mummy with Daddy.


We headed off to Sturbridge.  The first 200 dads got a mug with a lid, much nicer than the mugs we've gotten from our DCVs.  It was also Music and Art Weekend so there were a few extra things to see and do, such as listening to some fife and drum music.

While in the tinshop Phil introduced us to another interpreter, Walter, and commented that we came every week.  "No really, they do.  They have nothing better to do."  I don't think Walter believed him because he then started asking if we had seen various things.  Phil then commented that Bennett really does know all about this place and he could tell Walter all about everything.

In the afternoon Victoria was cutting profiles.  Luckily we got there a few minutes early so that we could be first in line.  Bennett was extremely wiggly and I'm not sure how much longer he would have been willing to stick around if we would have had to wait.  In fact, he was so wiggly that Daddy ended up having to hold him.

After nap Bennett played in the pool for a while, Grandpa came over to get his Father's Day gift, and after dinner we went for a bike ride.  Bennett did pretty well, but he kept trying to pedal backwards which meant that he was braking.  We'll have to work on that a bit more.

June 2 - 8

I had to work late on Monday and then was stuck in some crazy traffic on my way home.  Meanwhile Bennett and Daddy were outside planting grass seed and watering.  When I finally made it home Bennett was super excited to see me, which was nice.  Especially since I wasn't that late.


No nap on Tuesday, but Bennett had a chance to run around for a while at home while Daddy mowed the grass and I watered the garden.  Due to our outside activities dinner ended up being a little late.  Bennett and I also got packages in the mail containing hats for our upcoming walk for Boston Children's Hospital.  Walkers who received over $450 by a certain date got the hats.

Seeing how on Wednesday it was my turn to take Bennett to speech, of course he dind't sleep late.  In fact, he even tried to crawl into bed with my while holding a bagel.

Coloring before speech and then he framed it on the fridge with magnets.

It was another day with no nap.  When we got home from school Bennett helped me wrap Rosaline's birthday presents and then he played with his Duplo train track and with the Lego fire station.

I got an exciting email asking if I would agree to film a short interview about the Children's walk.  Eek. 

On Thursday Bennett did nap.  Not sure if it was because of this or because of not getting a chance to run around, but he was awake until almost 10:00.  Because it was raining we had to stay inside and Bennett watched Peter Pan.  Then after it ended he pretended to be the crocodile and then he was Mr. Smee.  He also must have been hungry (still in that growth spurt?) because he ate almost as much as we did for dinner. 

On Friday after school and work we decided to load up the truck with the old bush that we took out a few weeks ago.  Luckily Andrew and Gentry are awesome and they were willing to let us bring the bush to them to add to their bonfire pile.  Unfortunately it won't be until next year until they can get a permit for said bonfire.  While we were there Aunt Gentry gave Bennett a camel that she got for him while she was in Israel.  Didn't you know that there was a camel that lived at the OSV farm?

Bennett also had fun climbing into Daddy's truck and then jumping out.  We tried explaining that this isn't allowed anywhere but Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry's house, so hopefully he remembers that.  This video was after he had jumped out a number of times, so I think he was getting pretty tired.

Saturday was the start to a busy weekend!

At soccer Bennett started off ok but then quickly lost interest.  We only have one more week left and I don't think we'll be signing him up again any time soon.

We then headed off to Sturbridge.

The first thing we did was head down to the farm so that Bennett could meet the calves.  They do this all the time now, but we thought he might like getting to get close to one.  Instead he wondered why there were ropes on the calves. 

Betsy's calf now has a name.  Her previous calves have both had theme names and they wanted to continue the theme.  Rainy was born on a rainy day and Summer was born on the solstice.  So the new calf is named Chance because there was a "chance of rain" the day he was born.

We were also excited to discover that they are now doing a 10am milking!  Betsy and Button are still being milked twice a day, but they've started milking Bonnie once a day at 10 so enable a different audience to watch the milking.  This is nice for us because we're never around at 3:30 as it conflicts with naps.

Bennett also got a chance to feed the chickens some bread dough scraps.

The fun part of the day was that it was the Antique Car Rally.  In OSV's early history one would drive throughout the village stopping at the various buildings.  So now, once a year, cars that are from 1946 or older are invited to come and drive around the village.

Bennett's favorite car was this truck that had been turned into a traveling market.  He told many of the interpreters that "my favorite car is the one with the fruits and vegetables".  Of course since most of them were working inside, they had no idea what he was talking about!

On the way out we stopped inside the firearms exhibit and Bennett pretended to be Phil.

In other OSV news, they finally have pigs again!  However, they are in a different pen and have actually dismantled the old one.  Rhys acknowledged that this messes us our farm at home.

We also learned which of the cows will be sold.  Summer and Rainy are being sold (one to a 4-H family, and one to the guy who drives the stagecoach) and next year Isaac and Chance will be leaving.  One will be sold and the other will be butchered offsite and the meat kept for the food program.

At the tinshop Bennett got to help Phil put together part of a lantern.

And we were impressed with one of the interpreters at the farmhouse when she spoke to Bennett by name.  We know her name (because she's pictured in the calendar) but we've never seen her that much.  Did she just pick up on us saying his name?  Do the various interpreters talk about us amongst themselves so she knew who we were?

And to prove how much Bennett picks up on, while we were on our way grocery shopping later that afternoon, Bennett drew a picture on his magna doodle of Rhys milking Bonnie and he included many of the things he saw.


On Sunday we headed into Boston.

Our first stop was the Make Way for Ducklings statue in the Public Garden.  Luckily we were there pretty early so not many people were around.  Later in the day I'm sure it would have been mobbed with kids.  And that night Daddy read this story to Bennett and pointed out the streets we had been on, etc.

Make Way for Bennett

Our reason for going to Boston though was for the Walk for Boston Children's Hospital.   Once again we walked with Fiona, Alicia, and John.  (But not John from Peter Pan- a different one.)

Team photo

Bennett is slowly starting to grow into the shirt.  You would think that at an event that has lots of kids they might have some smaller shirts for them to wear.

2014 - 2013 - 2012

We got there early, just before 9, and it was already HOT!  We did some activities like sitting in this giant inflatable chair, played with bubbles, and Bennett had his arm painted.

I also was interviewed for a wrap-up/promotional video that they made.  I had been contacted earlier in the week asking if I would be willing.  Sure!  I must not be a good interviewee though because my segment is really short.  Bennett decided to be shy but there is some cute footage of him playing with the bubbles.  He had taken all of the bubble wands, maybe about a dozen of them, and was waving them around.

We started the walk early.  Partly to beat the heat, and partly to avoid some of the swarms of people.  It felt like we finished much more quickly that we did last year.  In fact, we finished before they were ready for us- they didn't have the medals ready, lunch wasn't ready yet, etc.

Once again Fiona held Bennett's hand the whole way again.  Very cute, and it kept him moving.  Maybe this would help at Sturbridge to keep him from dawdling and constantly asking to be picked up.

 After lunch we headed home.  Since it was so hot we set up a pool in the backyard.  Bennett had a blast playing in it and didn't mind the chilly water.

Pretending to take a nap.

And to round out the day we we went out for icecream after dinner.

I'd say it was the epitome of good summer day- Bennett was sweaty, sticky, had grass stains on his knees, a scraped leg, and ice cream dripped on his legs.

Also, here are some random OSV stats for you.

• Our membership renewal date is May 31st.
• From June 1, 2013 - May 25, 2014 we visited 52 times.  
• We started weekly visits on June 22, 2013.  Assuming we also visit this coming weekend (either the 14th or 15th) we will have visited every week for the past year, not counting weeks that they only were open for paid events (Christmas by Candlelight).  Since we've also gone more than once on some weekends, this will bring our total for the year to 54 visits.  I'd say we got our money's worth from the membership!

May 26th - June 1st

Since Monday was Memorial Day this meant we had more time for the never ending yard work.  We finished putting in the new bushes (there's a picture of them later).  This proved to be a bit challenging as they were going into an area close to some trees so there were lots of roots to deal with.  During Bennett's nap Chris and I were outside working and we were quite surprised when we saw Bennett come outside.  (We'd had the monitor with us but hadn't heard him.)  Apparently he had looked out a window, saw us, put his shoes on, and then came out the back door to find us.

After dinner we went for a walk.  Bennett wasn't so much interested in that, but he did enjoy picking dandelions.

Tuesday was a little too chilly to play outside so instead we made pudding pops, vacuumed, and played with Duplos.



On Wednesday Bennett asked to watch American Tail again.  But what was funny was that at one of the scary parts he ran to find me saying, "Mummy, save me!"

Confirming our suspicions that he's in the midst of a growth spurt, we measured Bennett and he's grown an inch in the past month.



When we picked Bennett up from school on Thursday we noticed he was in different clothes.  Apparently he had a bit of an accident when he decided to try to pee standing up.  Daddy later gave instructions on how to do this without getting all of your clothes wet.  :)

 After dinner Chris took out the old dishwasher in preparation for the new one to be delivered on Friday.  Bennett got his tools as well so that he could "help". 

Every time Chris got a new tool we would have Bennett get his as well- screwdriver, adjustable wrench, etc.

On Friday the new dishwasher was delivered and of course now we want to redo rest of the kitchen.

We also got a couple of pink flamingos (at Bennett's request) for the area by the new bushes.  Bennett has named them Charlie and Charkie.  (Charlie from this book and Charkie is from Curious George.)
Bennett and I also planted the squash plant that has grown from his plant a seed experience at OSV on Mother's Day.

Bennett: Are you going to put anything else here?
Mummy: Do you think that I should?
Bennett: Yes. Flamingos. Pink flamingos.

Saturday - 31
Saturday was pretty busy.  It started with soccer, which thankfully went better than the week before.  Bennett was much better about paying attention and listening to the coaches.

After soccer Bennett and Daddy stayed home, played outside, and watched Peter Pan while I helped Grandpa clean some stuff out of the basement at West Street.

New safety gear arrived so now Bennett can make his Derby Car!

After nap Bennett and Chris joined me for a haircut (I was the only one getting a trim) and then we all went to Nana's so that Chris could help with a few projects.  I brought along my sewing machine and hemmed a curtain for Liz as well.

When all our tasks were done we had a little bit of time to kill before we went to dinner at Grandpa's house so we went to the playground up the street.

On Sunday we had our weekly OSV visit. Lately Bennett has wanted his picture taken in these cutouts.  I think this summer when all the cousins come to visit we're going to have to take a group shot.

As always, we stopped at the tin shop.  However, this time we brought our watering can with us as it leaked a little.  Turns out the spout comes off so it can be changed from a sprinkle to a stream of water, so short of soldering those two parts together we may have to deal with a minimal leak.

Since the weather has warmed up it means that this cow can be "milked" again.

Back at home we did more yard work.  I know, it's a shocker!  We're removing one garden bed so luckily Andrew and Gentry are willing to take our dirt.  So Chris took a couple of loads of dirt to their house while Bennett and I went grocery shopping.

And that wraps up our week!

May 19 - 25

Another older post as I slowly work to get caught up...

On Monday Bennett played outside while Chris started to remove a bush that we decided to get rid of.  I stayed inside (taking pictures) and making dinner.
When they came inside Chris and I started talking measurements of our old dishwasher (we planned to replace it) and was calling out numbers to me.  Bennett ran to get his tape measure as well and started calling out random numbers every time Daddy did.
After dinner Bennett played some imaginary friends, ran from a monster, and dyed imaginary Easter eggs.

I'm not sure why it took a month, but we finally got our proofs from Bennett's school pictures on Tuesday.  At this rate it will likely be another month until the prints come in.  Both poses are great though, although some of the backdrop choices are pretty cheesy.  In the past we've gone with the Spring backdrop, but this time we'll stick with the grey.

When we got home Bennett had fun playing outside while Chris and I worked more on removing the bush.  Digging out roots is a big pain!
Since we had been working outside for so long we had a late dinner which meant we skipped Bennett's bath.  The late hour apparently didn't matter to him because he stayed awake talking to himself for quite some time after going to bed.

Well the bush was down but on Wednesday it was time for stump removal.  We dug it out and Chris also tied a rope to it so that we could pull it.  Bennett thought this was lots of fun.  He climbed into his playhouse and back down again and started pulling on the rope.   

It rained on Thursday so we couldn't go outside to play.  Instead we stayed inside and Bennett watched Peter Pan. 

We don't really watch many movies.  We are more likely to put on an episode of Curious George rather than a full-length movie.  On Friday we finally open up American Tale, which Bennett had gotten for Christmas.  He seemed to enjoy it, but did find a few moments to be a bit intense and scary.  (Maybe this is why we don't watch movies- they all seem to have scary parts to them, even the G rated movies.

Saturday started with soccer. Bennett was not interested AT ALL!  We ended up leaving early.  Not sure what it was- being in a different field than normal, no time for running around at the beginning, getting hit by a ball... all combined to make him not want to do anything.

So we headed off on various errands.  We went to the garden center and bought some new bushes to replace the one we removed, Old Navy to get Bennett some new pants, and the mall to pick out and order a dishwasher.  After all of that it was lunch time and then nap.

When Bennett woke up it was time to go to Uncle Andrew's house!  Chris and I had a date night to celebrate our 11th anniversary so Bennett spent the night with Uncle Andrew so that we wouldn't have to worry about getting home late, etc.  Poor Bennett and Uncle Andrew though, because Bennett woke up numerous times overnight.



Sunday morning we met Bennett and Uncle Andrew at Sturbridge for their Wool Days event.  Bennett asked Dave where they keep the electric blankets for the cows and chickens (if this doesn't make sense, read Click, Clack, Moo) but Dave said they don't have any because they don't have a typewriter or a Duck.

Bennett also participated in the tug-o-war.  We'd tried to get him to do it the week before but he hadn't been interested.  This time, as soon as he saw the rope, he wanted to join in.

Back at home we did more yard work.  Hopefully we'll be done with everything soon.

And then after dinner we had cake from the same place as our wedding cake.  So of course I had to put our cake toppers on it.  Yup, that's Marge and Homer Simpson.

We also gave Bennett some new "Mr Smee" PJs which he was excited to find in his room after his bath.